Fete Paradiso was my perfect introduction to Governors Island. My family and I spent a Sunday…read moreafternoon exploring the island and riding vintage Parisian carousels and carnival rides. I especially enjoyed the Velocipedes, which was introduced in the late 1800's as a way to help the bicycle, a new invention at the time, gain popularity. It was so fun to actually have to pedal the ride! I also loved the carousel with the ballerina seat, which was the oldest ride at Fete Paradiso dating back to 1850. Throughout the day we listened to music in the transformed bumper car pavilion beer garden (from 1900), admired the antique pipe organ, and even watched a sword swallower (I still do not understand how he did it!). It was quite a magical New York City Sunday. If you are in the New York City area and want to check out Fete Paradiso, go now! It closes for the season on September 29th.

There are just a few more weekends to try this out and I say it's DEFINITELY worth experiencing…read more I heard about Fête Paradiso when it first opened. It was something I had on my list to check out. Then, I had an opportunity, a few weeks back, to go with an organized grop. All I can say is that my answer was a huge YES. The photos I had seen were so cool and I was awe-inspired by the thought of seeing old carrousel pieces dating back to such an earlier time. The entire event is awesome. The people working the rides are dressed in appropriate attire from the era. The entire event has a feel of another time. Being on Governor's Island, you really lose the feeling of being in NYC. Yes, it's a short (FREE) ferry to Governor's Island, but you are really transported into another land. It's easy to lose yourself in the imagining how things were in an earlier time. Just a quick tip regarding the concessions. Concessions within the "Fête Paradiso" area are way over-priced. If you aren't willing to wander away a bit, you'll pay premium prices. If you are willing to cross over to the food area, there are dedicated concession areas and food trucks with very yummy, diverse options. I encourage you to be adventurous and find better, cheaper options. Re toilets, non-porta-a-poty options are located near the Manhattan ferry landing. These things will become of increasing significance as the length of your visit increases!

Absolutely delicious food from many great vendors. Definitely an experience that you shouldn't miss…read morewhen you are in NYC

If you love great barbecue, you need to be here. This is such a wonderful event . Award winning…read morebarbecue pit masters come to NYC from all over the country. This Big Apple BBQ Party takes place all around Madison Square Park, so as you walk around the circumference of the park, you have fabulous BBQ to enjoy. Madison Square Park is a few blocks long, at Madison Ave & 23rd Street to 26th, thru Fifth Ave, but you will usually also find more BBQ on Madison & 27-28th Streets. So there is A WHOLE LOTTA BBQ-ING GOIN' ON...and it is some of THE ABSOLUTE BEST BBQ. This year, I had some of the most delicious baby back ribs from MEMPHIS RIB CO of Mississippi (MS). Fall off the bone , perfectly WONDERFUL, ribs. That sauce...OMG, fantastic, with a perfect sweetness. THESE WERE PERFECT!! (Emoji with heart eyes) Next year, I want these delicious ribs again!! If you are planning to visit NYC, and you're a foodie, I suggest you plan your visit around the Big Apple BBQ. Check the dates on THAT WEBSITE. It is always on a weekend. I believe it is usually in JUNE. I want to attend next year, for sure! Last year was great & all the other years that I was able to attend--they were all great. My point is, this is ALWAYS A GREAT TASTING BBQ. So, try to attend, you'll be glad you did . AND--There is GREAT LIVE MUSIC, TOO!!! Free live music. Please check out the big Apple bbq website for more info. This is a fun, happy, yummy event & you should be there if you love great food & great live music. Mark your calendar....now, for next year...so you don't forget.

The whole sherry shepherd show was amazing. First time going to a show of this magnitude and I…read moredefinitely enjoyed myself. Shanice the singer was one of the guest. Which was very nice. Very nice set. Felt like family

This was soo much fun, attending the show was like being at a fun party. When I went, Wendy had…read morefour guest hosts, who were great. They were holding it down for her, but I will definitely return to see Ms. Wendy herself. The show was energetic and the pre-show DJ, music and Marco the warm-up guy was so lively and excellent at getting the audience pumped up for the show. 'How you doin?'

I have been wanting to attend Village Voice Choice Eats for a long time, but was always put off by…read morethe high price of the tickets (I never seem to be fast enough to nab those $70 general admission tickets). For their first ever Brunch Eats event, GA tickets were $60 and who can turn down an all you can eat brunch at 8pm? After going to a few different food events I really have to say the Voice seems to know what they're doing, and I feel much more confident shelling out the money for Choice. The event was extremely well organized. They picked a great venue (the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum), which was always kept clean, had adequate bathroom accommodations, space for both vendors and attendees, containers to hold your food samples, plastic ware, and garbage cans. I know that sounds like it would be common sense but I can't tell you how often these simple things are over looked at festivals and events. They even seemed able to book the right amount of vendors in proportion to attendees, so lines moved quickly even if they looked long. And the vendors they chose were great! Ess-a-Bagel was there with delicious smoked salmon and whitefish spreads on their fresh bagels. There was a fantastic Cuban pork sandwich with a red mojo sauce that I've forgotten the vendor of. There was ceviche, poached eggs, BLT's, french toast, tons of donuts. My favorite vendor by far though was Nha Minh, who made Duck Eggs and Vietnamese Ham in a Crepe Pinwheel with a chili oil made with dried seafood. WOW. It sounds as amazing and multi-faceted as it was. The booze selection was also excellent. There was a large beer station, as well a one for mimosas, Bloody Mary's and other vodka based cocktails (Eddy's Vodka), and Rose (Angel Whispers!). There were also a ton of freebies being given out by Haagen Dazs, Bark Thins, Uber Eats, Frames Bowling Alley. They had a live jazz band playing- such a nice backdrop! Plus we got to explore the museum a bit, and go up on deck at night and see the beautiful skyline views. I had a great time, left full, a little tipsy, with a tote full of goodies. The quality of the vendors as well as the organization of the event itself (not to mention that it's all you can eat and drink for three hours), made this a really good value. I'll definitely be attending more Voice events :)

Hester Nights is a super chill place to go for dinner on a Thursday night, especially when the…read moreweather is warm out. The overall feel of the place is like a giant happy hour venue, mostly due to the fact that there's a brick-and-mortar joint (whose name I can't remember right now) serving drinks. There's music playing and lights hanging in the trees. Eventi Plaza also has tons of seats and ledges to sit on, so no need to worry about finding somewhere to sit. The vendors change every week, so it's hard to say what'll be good. When I was there, I tried: 1) Khao Man Gai - If you've ever had Hainanese chicken rice, this is bascially what they serve ($8 for a platter). The guy gave us free samples as we stopped to see what it was, and after tasting it we were like, "OMG let's get this." The chicken was served on a bed of rice with some cucumber slices, and a side of some very salty soup (for sipping between bites) and a container of what tasted like semi-spicy fish sauce. It was good - probably my favorite of the night. They were also selling different types of Thai teas for $3 each. 2) Randalls BBQ - Got a pulled pork sandwich from here ($10). It was all right. 3) The Deviant Chef - Out of all the vendors that night, I thought they had the most intriguing menu - interesting sandwiches like kalbi, curry chicken, etc, served on your choice of bread/bun and sauces ($8 per sammie). We got a kalbi with Asian slaw sammie on brioche, which was pretty good, though it took a while to make. 4) Minnie's Bake Shop - Their cakes caught my eye - tiny double-layer cakes in 5 or 6 different flavors. For bite-size cakes, they were very expensive ($3 each!) but the red velvet one I got was so delicious. Totally recommended as a small dessert to finish off dinner. As with a lot of other street fairs of this kind, the food can get pretty expensive, but it's fun to go with a friend or two to try some of the different vendors!

A food festival plopped right in the middle of the city. For those of you who have been, like a…read moresmaller version of Madison Square Eats. Behind on the hotel in an open seated area, every Thursday this summer from 5-10PM. The crowd is mostly people trickling in after a long day of work. They have a great beer selection inside and even serve some really tasty sounding cocktails. As for the bites, Little Muenster's three crostinis for $9 was a bit too pricey for me to order again, but you get a variety of three (recipes I will be stealing, like combining cheese with grapes) and the ingredients are top notch. The empanada spot had small refried empanadas that weren't bad, but not really exciting either. My favorite was inside where they have a kitchen and grill. They had a variety of burgers and dogs, but I went for the seafood station. I ordered an Oyster Po'boy for $9 and they gave me a beeper to alert me when my order was ready. It was packed with at least 5-6 large fried oysters and topped with mayonnaise. I also saw people walking around with platters of fish and chips. With the better equipment inside, this was churning out better food than what I saw from the stands.

I was leaving town for Thanksgiving, and thought it'd be fun to stroll calmly by the Balloons and…read moreFloats the night before the parade. Nope! Nothing peaceful about it. Cool? Yes. Chaos? That too. My thinking was arriving closer to end time to avoid the masses. The float inflation viewing started at 1pm & ended at 6pm. By arriving at 530 I'd let all the families and die hards pass through beforehand. Turns out the rest of NY had the same idea. The line was 10 people wide and wrapped around a couple city blocks. I kept walking, and walking, .......and walking, and finally found the end of the line. A worker in a parade vest started yelling "If you're not at 72nd St by 6, you aren't guaranteed to get in!". If it worked out great. If not, no big deal. Vendors along the way were selling pretzels, hot dogs and light up toys. Not a boring wait. There were wooden barriers lining the sidewalk, but about half way through, a huge crowd moved the saw horse and cut all the patient people who did the nice thing and started at the end. I was not happy! Said so out loud, too. Luckily their bad karma didn't affect my getting in at 555pm. There were more corrals to wind through as we paralleled the park. Then I saw Minnie Mouse! She was pretty. Other balloons followed like Bluey, Sponge Bob, & Spider-Man. Most of the characters were face down hugging the ground and covered in netting, but how awesome is this free BTS experience! I stayed farthest away from the balloons in the hopes I could breeze through faster. Kinda worked. Took some ok pics. Finished the first row. I was feeling done when a worker said there's more on 81st St. I'm not a quitter. I headed north! Saw Pikachu, Snoopy, Smokey, The Pillsbury doughboy and a couple unknowns. The thick crowds and shuffling along the path made me start to feel a bit claustrophobic. I asked the closest police officer how to get out, and he said you can't. You have to keep following the trail passed the floats of the next block, and then you can peel away without finishing the last block of floats. It was overwhelming, but really neat. Would I do it again? No. Am I glad I did it once, absolutely. A simple way to fix this frustrating congestion situation, would be to have a free online ticket with a timed entrance. Staff wouldn't need a person manning the tickets, but it would give attendees a designated block of time to show up. Something to consider for future events.

Macy's Thanksgiving Balloon Inflation is an Upper West Side tradition to me. The first time I…read moreattended I lived in a rooming house on West 74th Street owned by an order of Catholic Nuns. The director Sister Pius suggested I go to the balloon inflation the first year I moved to Manhattan 2002. The event definitely gets crowded. I had no idea what to expect. Sorry to say I wasn't taking photos of everything and posting on a social website. This year Beagle Scout Snoopy was in the balloon inflation. He is the one photo I got. On Thanksgiving I saw him in the parade on TV. If you are in the area you should at least experience this tradition once! Take lots of photos!!

**100th Review**…read more This event was scheduled to be held in late October and then Sandy happened and they postponed it to March as the entire NY was in upheaval.Had this bookmarked on my wall calender, bb calender and my gmail calender lest I forget it.The Kids Food Festival was a weekend event focusing on educating families about making balanced food choices through fun and flavorful activities. Was planning to sign up for the demo classes for easy peasy fun cooking for kids by some famous chefs/authors but decided against it at the last minute. I involve my daughter in cooking every other weekend at home.Didnt think the $40 for a 30 minute class was justified. And besides there were ton of other things to do and eat:-) We got there at 11 am on Saturday and the park was packed.Also there were a whole load of people surrounding ice skating rink as there was an ice hockey game in action.There were quite a few tents and each one giving away samples and freebies:- Horizon Organic Milk and Dairy-Chocolate Milk and Grilled Cheese Sandwich Honest Kids -Juices and Teas Creative Kitchen-They had diy aprons,chef hats, etc for $5 and a free craft station where kids use the materials provided to create anything they like Graham Crackers-New Strawberry Sandwich Crackers Light Cooking-Trail Mixes sponsored by Whole Foods Plum Foods:-itsy bitsy rice crackers etc There were couple others I cant seem to remember.They were also all giving away tattos and stickers On the stage there was a performance every half and hr.Some performances that we sat through were Karma Kids,Sprowtz, Little CLub Heads,Yo Gabba Gabba.We also sat through Josh Beckermans Foodie Magician Show.This guy is really a rock star.I hear he runs a very successful food blog too.We also witnessed Katie Workman author of mom 101 and some othere cook books in making demonstration of making tacos and edamame a fun way to involve kids in healthy eating. Overall it was a super fun event and kudos to Cooking Light for pulling this off in a big city.It was very well organized and everything seemed to be going on as per schedule which is not often witnessed at such big events.My daughter had a swell time and the message for kids to eat healthy was definitely driven well.

I volunteer for the Kids Food Fest every year, Cricket Azima, the founder does a great job at…read moreintroducing children to healthy eating and wholesome food choices. Kids participate in a super cool and free scavenger hunt where they piece together a well balanced meal by collecting stamps on a paper plate, at the end of the hunt they are awarded a goodie bag filled with yummy food samples. This year, Pure Kids, an organization created by Beecher's (think cheese) stole the show, they introduced their kid's workshop which teaches children to be food detectives, they are taught to read labels and identify the not so healthy ingredients in day to day products and foods, empowering them to make better choices on their own. The festival takes place in scenic Bryant Park and in addition to free samples from various vendors like Jarlsberg (yummy!), Kind Bar, Cuties and others, you can purchase tickets to an array of cooking classes with participating chefs from organizations like the James Beard Foundation and Whole Foods Kids. The Kids Food Fest is one NYC's best hidden gems!

The Lowdow: What is…read moreit: Each week, two of New York's best mixologists compete head-to-head to create the best cocktail using a series of secret ingredients... judged by YOU! What you get: Appetizers, 5 cocktail tastings, 2 cocktails of your choice (from the 6), DJs, free admission to "Late Night" Hudson Terrace party When: 8-10pm, Fridays from Jan 6th thru April 6, 2012 Doors open at 7:30pm - Upon arrival you are treated with one free patron Cocktail - The event is Sponsored by Patron. Foodwise you have Hummus, Quesadillas, French Fries, Guacamole, Veggie/Dip, Chips/Salsa. If it's hot it's good, if it's cold, its not. They pass around small drinks as you wait for the event to begin, sweet! There are Three Rounds - each with a secret ingredients. For our night (2/10) they were (1) Bloody Mary Mix (2) Brown Sugar Syrup (3) Lime Juice Eric (Team A) made a Horseradish Bloody Mary, Blood Orange Margarita and a Spin on Caipirinha Sydney (Team B) made a Tomato-ey Sweet Bloody Mary, Lemon Sorbet Margarita and an Apple Cider Drink TIP #1 - It was exciting to try them all, the trick is to pretend to throw your tab (from your bracelet) into the bucket and just keep going back and forth trying them. Just keep getting in line! TIP#2 - The MOMENT the competition ends go get your Full sized drinks (2). This is how they tally the winner. You only have like 10 min to get the drink and you can get it either from the bar or the competitors themselves. If you miss out, don't fret - they are valid at the after party upstairs! At the end of the night you will be happily dancing the night away - If you followed Tip#1 and got 4 samples of each of the 6 drinks. The only reason I downed this event to 3 stars is because the end was very uncoordinated, everyone was still enjoying the last round when they announce, you have 5 min to get your Drinks and vote. 5 min - 100+ ppl trying to get drinks? Really? The Afterparty was pretty lame, slow, BUT at this point, it doesn't matter because you've had a great night already and your with good friends, buzzed - or drunk, depending on your tolerance hahaha. Another thing that upset us was the fact that we thought one particular bartender should have won, he had lines 3x longer than the other but in the end that worked against him because these people waiting in line never got to vote for him. Voting is skewed and it never fun to watch a deserving person lose for being too good. Definitely give this event a try, it's win win. OH! And I got my tickets on Goldstar for $10! $10 for food, drinks and the Afterparty at Hudson Terrace. WIN WIN WIN! Go Go Go!!!

This was a pretty cool event. "free" drink samples and then two "free" full drinks of your choice…read morefrom the competition. Very lively event with lots of attractive women. Oh, and when I went, they had these delicious mini taco thingys that tasted like heaven. Afterwards, you had access to the Roof Top party that was even more cool. Especially when they open the roof. Definitely worth checking out, but try to get the deal price from Livingsocial or Groupon. Pay $40 instead of $80